I am concerned about having this done to young. I was told that if you neuter a male to young it may actually fix it's self and your back to an un neutered male. Is this true???

Abby is female but my vet said bring her in anytime. Well she just hit 4 months, she's very small I'd frankly I"m not sure I am comfortable with her having this done just yet. She just seems a little to little to me and I think I would prefer to wait a month or two,, she won't have gone into heat before than so why would I not give her a little more growing time?

Tommysmom

April 13th, 2008, 10:27 PM

Nope, not true... a neutered animal doesn't become un-neutered.

We had my pup done at 5 months, and he was only a few pounds when we did it. I'd rather make sure it's done before they go into heat or develop any habits related to the hormones. I know with some large breeds there are some reasons to wait a bit because of growth, but I'd always rather be safe than sorry.

Love4himies

April 14th, 2008, 06:17 AM

Not true, a neutered male can't become un-neutered, you may be thinking of a vasectomy.

My kitties were spayed at 4 months and they had no problems after.

ancientgirl

April 14th, 2008, 09:23 AM

I can't see how they can become "un-neutered" unless the person doing the operation didn't do a good job.

All my kitties have been done between 4 and 5 months old. My last two, I had the appointment for my Kiska all set and she went into heat a few days before! My vet informed me that 4-6 months was a good time to get it done.

Jim Hall

April 14th, 2008, 11:22 AM

cats can be sexually active in as little as 6 mpnthe esp for female

Basically beahavioral dev stops at 4 to 6 months any way

whats more important is the cat achieves a certain amoubt of weight and blood volume to handle the anesthisiea properly

Love4himies

April 14th, 2008, 11:25 AM

whats more important is the cat achieves a certain amoubt of weight and blood volume to handle the anesthisiea properly

That is the determinant for my foster kittens to get spayed/neutered. They had to be a minimum of 3 lbs.

I have heard of that happening in very rare circumstances, much as you hear of human sterilization programs like vascectomy occasionally failing.

If you are concerned about the long term health risks and benefits of spaying or neutering dogs the article in the attached link will be very interesting reading. Read it and ask your Vet about them. My puppy-boy is six months old tomorrow, the age we are often urged to consider neutering. I asked my Vet for information on the health RISKS as well as the benefits and they did not give me information on one single risk, not even the risk, low I believe, of anaesthetic or surgical complications. I have not completely made my mind up what I'm going to do but I am upset my Vet has presented me with information that meets only their own bias.

I think the poster is talking about a dog?

jealma

April 14th, 2008, 05:35 PM

Yes I am talking a female dog, of a small breed. I glanced over the artical you posted and I intend to take more time and fully read it. Thank you

Love4himies

April 16th, 2008, 07:45 AM

The article doesn't state the strong urge to stray while in heat or an un-neutered male going after a female in heat, and the consequences of straying: getting lost and starving to death, picked up and put in a kill shelters, getting injured or killed by a car or other animals, etc.

The risk of a female getting pregnant and the health issues that come along with that.

The unpleasant personality traits that come along with un-fixed animals and being placed in kill shelters.

I believe in altering before sexual maturity.

jealma

April 16th, 2008, 08:15 AM

I agree 100% about having your pet spay and neutered. I figure there are risks anytime a person or pet is put under. My concern was mostly that she was just and I mean just 4 months old. I was hoping to wait till she was 6 months, unless there is any chance of her going into heat before that. I just want to make sure that the timing is right for my baby girl to have the lest amount of stess put on her as possible. Thank you for the information though.. I always prefer to make informmed decissions.

Yes, the article referenced in my first post deals only with HEALTH concerns. the picture is bigger than that. The two articles above give a bit more rounded information. The latter in particular presents behavioural and societal consequences of neutering and spaying, or not, for both dogs and cats and even gives some breed specific information.

Sorry for not including these links earlier but I stupidly lost them. I'd like to thank whoever first posted the link to that second article; I've only just recently had time to read it. It is not something you can scan lightly and I think I will have to read it over several times. By way, I got it from the American Veterinary Medical Association Site and it is posted on some other Vet. sites as well.

For me, I hate to think I am neutering my male dog because of my inablility or unwillingness to work to control behaviour, which might arise with sexual maturity, at the risk of his health. OF COURSE owning an intact animal of any species puts more onus on the owner to control that animal, male or feamale.

Love4himies

April 16th, 2008, 11:58 AM

[QUOTE=Longblades;OF COURSE owning an intact animal of any species puts more onus on the owner to control that animal, male or feamale.[/QUOTE]

I agree 100%, but it just takes a second and they can bolt.

cockermother

April 16th, 2008, 07:41 PM

I agree 100%, but it just takes a second and they can bolt.

Yes, but the risks of dogs who are lost mating with another animal is much lower than in say, cats. A male dog needs to find another unsupervised animal in heat. Maybe more likely in a rural area, but stray dogs in cities are relatively rare because they get scooped up and taken to a shelter quickly. A female dog who bolts because she is in heat needs to find an unsupervised, unneutered male dog. In saying that, I had friends in a very rural place whose dog (female, in heat, and scheduled to be bred to another pure-bred in a few days) jumped a very high fence, and they were terrified that she might have mated with a stray, a feral, or even a wolf (not sure how realistic this fear is!). Luckily not the case, but it seems to me that location has a great deal to do with the risk the dog faces.

The other risks, such as getting run over by a car, or injured by another dog, are the same for neutered or unneutered animals.

Love4himies

April 17th, 2008, 07:16 AM

Yes, but the risks of dogs who are lost mating with another animal is much lower than in say, cats. A male dog needs to find another unsupervised animal in heat.

Thought it went by scent, not whether the female is supervised or not and an un-neutered dog will follow the scent. Also, because of the sex drive, when they catch the scent, they will more likely to run to find that female.